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TUESDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Taking folic acid
supplements before and during pregnancy was linked to a decreased risk of
a having a child with a severe language delay at age 3, according to new
research.

The Norwegian study found that women who took no folic acid supplements
before and during pregnancy had more than twice the risk of having a child
with a serious language delay compared to women who took folic acid
supplements.

"Maternal use of supplements containing folic acid within the period
from four weeks before, to eight weeks after conception was associated
with a substantially reduced risk of severe language delay in children at
age 3 years," said the study's lead author Christine Roth, a Ph.D. student
in the division of mental health at the Norwegian Institute of Public
Health in Oslo.

Results of the study are published in the Oct. 12 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association.

Folic acid supplementation is already recommended for women of
childbearing age, because adequate folic acid stores have been shown to
help prevent major birth defects, such as spina bifida and other neural
tube defects. Folic acid is important in allowing nervous system cells to
reproduce and to repair themselves, according to background information in
the study.

In the United States, many foods, such as breads and cereals, are
fortified with folic acid. In Norway, flour is not fortified with folic
acid, according to Roth.

The study included data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort
study, a prospective observational study of pregnant women and their
offspring conducted from 1999 through 2008. Data were collected on the
children until they were 3 years old.

Mothers assessed their children's language skills using a six-point
language scale. Children who had only minimal expressive language, which
was defined as only using one word or unintelligible utterances at age 3,
were classified as having a severe language delay.

Of the nearly 39,000 children in the study, 204 had a severe language
delay.

Of children whose mothers took no supplements during pregnancy, 0.9
percent had severe language delays. Just 0.4 percent of children whose
mothers took folic acid supplements before or during pregnancy had severe
language delays, according to the study. And, just 0.4 percent of children
whose mothers took folic acid supplements in combination with other
supplements before and during pregnancy had a severe language delay.

Roth said the researchers don't know exactly how folic acid might help
prevent severe language delays, but said it may be due to the nutrient's
effect on the nervous system.

"Knowing that neural tube defects range from milder defects of the
lower spine to the most severe instances where the fetus does not develop
a brain at all, we wondered whether the availability of folic acid in this
crucial time of neurodevelopment also could influence other aspects, such
as language development," said Roth.

Although many foods in the United States are fortified with folic acid,
women who are planning to become pregnant should start taking a prenatal
vitamin or a multivitamin that has at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a
day, advised Dr. Deborah Campbell, director of the division of neonatology
at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York
City.

But more evidence is needed to know for sure if doing so will help
prevent language delays, she added.

"This is an interesting study showing an association with severe
language delays, but I don't know that there's enough here to show
causality," Campbell said.